


Home Is

by tanktrilby



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Backstory, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, tatsuya is everybody's worst idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 04:29:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3105905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanktrilby/pseuds/tanktrilby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kagami Taiga grows up in good company.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Is

**Author's Note:**

  * For [secrettemplars (tricycleamoving)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tricycleamoving/gifts).



They are four, and Taiga’s dad’s arms are firm around his shoulders, his voice deep and rumbly and easy to listen to when pressed up against him. There is a shivery sharp pain in his chest where Taiga thinks his heart is and he thinks it might be shaking apart. He doesn’t remember feeling like this ever before -it hurts too bad to cry- but he just _knows_ that mom would have known how to make it better. But mom wasn’t here anymore, was she?

Daiki is here, though, and Taiga welcomes that over the unfamiliarity of his father’s tears trickling through his hair. Daiki’s here, and looking at them both with steady blue eyes, holding Taiga’s hand as tight as he can. He’d done the same at the funeral- just held and held and wouldn’t let go even when it started raining and everyone else washed away.

“Kagami-san,” says Daiki very seriously. “I miss Kyouko-obaa-chan, too.”

Taiga’s heart begins to lift. If Daiki’s here, maybe everything might still be okay.

Except-

“I know, Daiki-kun,” Taiga’s dad says, raising his head to give him a nod. Taiga manages a smile, too, and Daiki beams back, showing where he was missing a tooth. Momentary envy replaces sadness, and Taiga pulls a face.

Taiga’s dad puts a hand on his shoulder when he squirms, halfway into a battle with Daiki. “I’m glad Taiga has a friend like you, Daiki-kun,” he says. His eyes are gentle, a little wet still. Taiga immediately feels bad and burrows closer.

Taiga’s dad ruffles both their hair. “I hope you’ll continue to be friends even after we leave.”

Taiga stiffens.

Daiki, still flushing with pride over the praise, is slower to react. “Of course we will! We’ll be friends forever!”

Taiga can’t look at him. He bites his lip hard, hard enough for the water that’s been building pressure behind his eyes to finally rush out, all at once, streaking down his face and rubbing on his dad’s white shirt.

Taiga’s dad sounds surprised. “Taiga told you already?”

Daiki’s hand tightens around his. “Told me…what?”

Taiga scrambles out of his father’s arms, hugs Daiki instead, really tight. Daiki hugs back, and what was Taiga going to do without him, without him to play with, compete with, be with all day?

“We’re going back to America, Daiki-kun,” Taiga’s dad says quietly. “Now with Taiga’s mom gone, we… I thought it would be for the best.”

 “But-“ Daiki sounds utterly lost, and Taiga’s next sob is almost a _wail._ Daiki hugs him tighter, nuzzles his hair a little on autopilot. “ _Why?”_

Taiga’s dad hesitates. “Because- hell, kid, I can’t really explain. It’s to do with my job, and even though Taiga’s spent his whole life here, we always planned on moving back. Now that Kyouko’s gone,” his voice wavers, but he evens it out, goes on, “we think it’s time we both had a fresh start.”

Taiga doesn’t think Daiki still totally gets it. He’s just responding to everything Taiga’s doing, wiping his tears, kissing his cheeks, pulling him close because Taiga doesn’t want a world where Daiki isn’t right by him, he’ll breathe him in if he could.

Taiga’s dad stands up as they cling to each other, Daiki making little shushes. He looks sad, older by twenty years than he was a month ago.  “I’m sorry, kids,” he says, before he goes to the kitchen.

Taiga howls louder.

*

He is nine, and Taiga is a speck in a city that’s big enough to drown in. The kids at school bend their vowels and carve some syllables and it’s hard to keep up sometimes, but it’s not that bad. In afternoons, he walks through the streets back home with his headphones on. He’s learning how to cook so that takeout isn’t the only option anymore; he can’t wait to show dad.

His dad’s work is…tough, Taiga thinks, and competitive, and other big words that stretch without meaning. He works late enough that Taiga has given up waiting for him, leaving his half of dinner on the table with a note. When he finally learns to cook, and if it’s _really good,_ he thinks that his dad might look forward to it enough to come home before Taiga’s bedtime.

He chips away at his schoolwork, but nothing really makes an impression and it all feels like he’s trying to make up for something, something else he should be doing that’s way more important. It’s a stupid feeling because there’s literally no place else he’s wanted, but Taiga holds on to it anyway.

And on his tenth birthday, he meets Himuro Tatsuya.

And he realizes that slowly, his life is shifting back into orbit.

*

He is twelve, and Tatsuya is thirteen and still wears those massive boat-sized T-shirts in droopy boring colors, but he is also devastatingly, life-threateningly _handsome_ and it only gets worse by the day.

Alex is no help whatsoever; she is flat-out _useless,_ all shoulder-pats and nudges and big conspicuous winks. When Tatsuya shows up she sighs and pretends to stare at him dreamily, and _giggles_ when he tells her to cut it out.

“What even is your problem,” Taiga growls, trying -unsuccessfully- to hit her with her clipboard.

She peeks at him through one eye, the other critically tracking Tatsuya’s form. “Doing you a solid, Taiga, and don’t you forget it,” she sings. “Yo, Tatsuya! I think you should show off those guns more and so does Taiga!”

 _“Alex,”_ Taiga considers clawing at his face or flailing, but those sound like dumb ideas. Instead he scoots further away from her on the bench. “And can I get on the court already?”

“Not yet, hotshot,” Alex says, winking lazily at Tatsuya, who’s dribbling the ball towards them. “You aren’t moving ‘til that knee’s in proper working order. My students aren’t losing their career even before they actually start it.”

“What are we talking about?” Tatsuya asks. He smiles when Taiga passes him a soda, a simple lift of the lips, his eyes bright. “Taiga, you’re resting that leg properly, right?”

“You’re such a catch, Tatsuya,” Alex says fondly. “Tell him, Taiga.”

Tatsuya rolls his eyes, ignoring this. “Come by my place later, my Xbox misses you,” he tells Taiga. He grins when Taiga’s cheeks heat up. “And if you make me watch NBL videos the whole night again I’m kicking you out.”

Alex snorts. “Normally I’d feel left out, but.” She springs on to her feet, grabs Tatsuya by the shirt. “You, my little stud, are going to show me your fadeaway. And you, Taiga,” she calls over her shoulder, “work on your handling, it’s a disgrace.”

Taiga makes a face as he watches them move on to the court, Alex’s arm slung over Tatsuya’s shoulder. He feels it thrum in his bloodstream, spikes of electricity, and he reaches for a ball, grinning like an idiot, unable to stop. Basketball and Tatsuya and Alex- it all feels like the best of dreams.

*

He’s fifteen, and his crush on Tatsuya has gone nowhere and his friendship isn’t looking so great either. He feels it like bile at the back of his throat, can taste the shame- in the end, he couldn’t even give Tatsuya his resolution, only managed an unfinished challenge and the memory of Tatsuya’s knuckles on his jaw.

Japan. He vaguely remembers it, but that may be stuff he imagined from his dad and Tatsuya’s stories. Four years old is too young to grasp at memories, and Taiga’s pretty sure it’s all for the best anyway. Part of him doesn’t want to remember his mom, remember what it was like. For four years, he must have been happy, had a family. He doesn’t want to waste his time with what-ifs.

He boards the plane. His dad’s following him the week after, but Taiga took care of all the details anyway, so he might as well be moving in on his own.

*

They are sixteen, and Kagami Taiga fucking _hates_ Aomine Daiki.

 Peripherally, he’s aware that he’s losing his shit, exactly like this assfuck wants -can almost hear Kuroko’s warning _Kagami-kun_ and the pressure of Alex’s hand on his shoulder- but fuck being calm, fuck only communicating through basketball, and most of all fuck this arrogant douchebag who swaggered into the courts and challenged him to a one-on-one like he was _entitled._

It’s not like he’s never wanted to punch someone over basketball before. This has nothing to _do_ with basketball. This is pure loathing, deep and gloriously unreasonable, and Taiga nearly knocks him out with the ball this asshole casually throws at him instead of catching it.

He takes a deep breath. He takes several deep breaths.

“Bring it,” he snarls, and Aomine Daiki grins.

*

They are seventeen, and in love with each other’s basketball styles and in love with each other.

One-on-ones in courts in the middle of nowhere turned into (reluctant) invitations to crash at Taiga’s turned into watching videos on his laptop late at night, Aomine a solid line of warmth against him singing along to terrible anime openings and snickering at Taiga’s expression. Aomine sleepily ordering pizza when they’re both too wrecked for anything but sleep because he’d heard somewhere that not eating after a draining practice gave you nightmares. Yelling at Aomine because the last time Kuroko had been over, he’d made a comment about living together and they weren’t, _they most certainly weren’t and Kuroko’s such a little-_

Aomine kissed him for the first time while he was mid-rant and he’d been too shocked to pay attention, so he just pulled Aomine right back in by his obnoxious blue hair and tried again.

*

They are twenty, and Taiga wakes up on Aomine’s chest, presses a kiss to the closest patch of skin, slides out of bed-

-and finds Momoi Satsuki with her hands covering her face.

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT,” Taiga shouts, scrambling for the sheets.

It says a lot about Aomine that Taiga elbows him twice in the face and he only mumbles a little and turns over. Taiga bites back all the swear words building up in his system and turns to Aomine’s best friend.

“…Momoi?” he tries.

Momoi still has her hands up like a shield. From what he can see of her face, she’s gone redder than his hair. Hell, she’s gone redder than _Akashi’s_ hair.

He waits, trying to push the unwelcome thought of Akashi this early out of his mind. He watches as pieces of Momoi come together- the slide of long pink hair behind her ear, a whispering of numbers that Taiga’s pretty sure are the stats of the Teikou team- until she finally looks up, blush mostly receded, and smiles.

“You okay?” he gestures. “Y’know, if you could close your eyes or something, I could get dressed and make you something.”

Her eyes go soft. “Kagamin, you’re such a sweetheart.”

Taiga blinks. Behind him, Aomine stirs and pushes his cold nose into Taiga’s back and Taiga elbows him until he rolls back away. “…okay?”

“Dai-chan really doesn’t deserve you,” she adds in a somewhat sharper tone, and even in his sleep, Aomine whines. Taiga snorts. “Touko-san’s going to love you, though.”

Taiga blinks at her stupidly. Momoi’s so smart, some of the things she says fly right over his head. “Who?”

Momoi blinks back. “Touko-san. Dai-chan’s mom.”

Like Akashi, this is something that it’s way too early for. “Huh?”

“Who you’re supposed to meet,” Momoi says slowly. Her eyes are losing their warmth, turning match-cold and on her lap, her pretty hands curl into fists. “Today. Unless Dai-chan didn’t tell you.”

Taiga feels faint. “He didn’t tell me,” he confirms, stunned, and he swears Momoi’s hair flies up behind her like angry snakes.

“ _Dai-chan you,”_ she catches his expression and pauses. “Kagamin?”

“Holy shit,” he says in the same stunned voice. “Holy fu-freaking shit.”

Momoi stops leaning over him to get at Aomine, grabs his hands instead. “Kagamin, it’ll be fine,” she says, giving them a reassuring squeeze. “They’re going to love you. They’re nice people, they’re bound to see how much you love Dai-chan.  How great you are is going to be a bonus.”

“But he- why today?”

Momoi smiles. “You’ve been together for almost three years now, right? So why not today?” she slips her hands out of his, begins to shake him by the shoulders. Obligingly, he moves back and forth. “I know Dai-chan talks about you a lot with his parents. They want to see the boy who made him love basketball again.”

“You and Kuroko did most of that,” he points out, and she groans.

“Learn to accept praise without nitpicking, Kagamin, it’s your one true failing,” she says, laughter tinkling in her voice. “Tetsu-kun and I set up the stage, but you were the one his eyes were on. Every time.”

She begins laughing outright. “Oh, Kagamin, you’re blushing!”

Taiga rolls his eyes. “Shut up.”

*

They are twenty, leaning against each other, trading light insults back and forth until the door opens, and then there is a middle-aged woman Taiga’s never seen before calling him _Tai-chan._

“…pardon?” he says, the same time Aomine yelps “ _Mom.”_

“I’m sorry,” says Aomine’s mom, and takes her hand away from her mouth, and Taiga sees it- her eyes are the same night-sky blue as Aomine’s, her nose sharp and straight. “I wasn’t sure when Daiki first told us about you, but…it _is_ you. Come in, Tai-chan.”

Aomine’s hand tightens around his, briefly, before they follow her inside. Taiga doesn’t remember being more confused in his whole life, and the expression on Aomine’s face tells him he’s no better.

In the kitchen is Aomine’s dad, and here the resemblance is easier to spot, glaring- he looks just like Aomine would in thirty years. Maybe Aomine’s a little prettier, but the build and hair are the same.

Again, before Taiga can introduce himself, he’s met with a blink of disbelief. “Huh,” says Aomine’s father. “So you found him after all, Daiki.”

“What’s going on,” Aomine rumbles. His midnight eyes flash, fists clenching- Taiga scowls and steps on his foot.

That’s when Aomine’s mom bursts back out of the room she disappeared into. She’s lovely- Aomine is just an approximate rendition of how beautiful she is, especially when she’s excited. “Found it!” she crows, and hurries over towards them. “Oh, it’s not the best one we have- there’s one of you dressed up, but I really like this one.”

She holds out an old photo. Two little boys are playing with a train set by violently ramming a station and a train together, and the two bright mops of hair and identical bright grins are enough to recognize who they are.

Aomine grips his hand, very tight.

“This was before you moved away, Tai-chan,” Aomine’s mom says softly. “I’m sure you missed Daiki as much as Daiki missed you.”

Something in Taiga’s head clicks. “When my mom died-“

“You were with us,” she says, her eyes steady on his. “Daiki held an umbrella over both of you at the funeral. You were our neighbors for four years, and we used to think that you and Daiki would grow up together.” She sighs, gives them a gentle smile. “Looks like you did that anyway.”

Taiga looks at Aomine -Daiki, he thinks, since before he can even remember- and Aomine meets his eyes. He grins, eyes lit up, sparkling, and Taiga is helpless to not grin back.

*

They are twenty-seven, and Daiki holds the umbrella over both their heads and holds his hand very tight. Kuroko is on his other side, flanked by Momoi, and Daiki’s mom and dad stand a little aside. Taiga’s gaze catches on Daiki’s parents’ from time to time; they both smile each time, soft sad smiles that make Taiga’s chest hurt.

Kuroko and Momoi are the last to leave. “I’m very sorry for your loss, Kagami-kun,” says his best friend, desperately earnest. Momoi’s face is still wet with tears, but she looks him  in the eye when she says goodbye.

“He worked too hard since I can remember,” Taiga says, mostly to make them stop looking so dreadfully sad. “The doctors always told him to ease up but he never did.”

Daiki throws his free arm around his shoulders, pulls him close and plants a rough kiss in is hair. “I know,” he says. “We know, Taiga, we’re here.”

Kuroko nods. Momoi springs forward, gives their hands a little squeeze each. “Careful on the roads,” she says, in a rigidly controlled voice. “Road accidents increase by sixty seven per cent in this weather.”

Taiga snorts. The grip strangling his heart eases. He presses against Daiki, the solid reassuring warmth of him.

“Momoi-san,” Kuroko says reprovingly.

They bitch at each other all the way to their car, waving at Taiga and Daiki before they drive off, smiles tight with worry. Their eyes linger on Taiga too long, gentle brushes of their gazes on his face. Taiga smiles at them. 

Daiki says, snickering, “I’d say they were made for each other if I hadn’t met us.”

Taiga rolls his eyes. “Dumbass,” he says, no sting in it at all.

Daiki smirks, ducks his head for a quick kiss. His lips are warm and knowing, and deep in Taiga’s stomach, tentative coils of heat spiral.

“You okay?” Daiki asks, pulling away.

Taiga looks at him. Daiki has little droplets of rain caught in his hair because he is a dumb shit who thinks they can both fit under the same umbrella, and his eyes are bright and he looks like a lovestruck idiot teenager and he is beautiful and complete and he is the best thing that Taiga knows, and the thing that Taiga knows best.

“Yeah,” Taiga says firmly, and Daiki smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for knbss2k14, as a gift for sheen (secrettemplars on tumblr) 
> 
> thanks for reading!


End file.
